How Organic were the Bionicle Characters? Anatomy Breakdown | BIONICLE Deep Dive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2022
- Ever wonder just how biological and how mechanical the Bionicle characters are? Well here I give my best shot at breaking down all that we know about the anatomy of the Matoran, Toa, and all the MU inhabitants! There's a lot of mystery as to how they are composed, especially their brains. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! There are tons of amazing fan interpretations, if you search for "Toa Anatomy" on google, you'll find over a dozen different takes on it!
NEW! If you want to know the MASS of a Toa, check out @theknowledgetower208 and their video breaking it down, they do an amazing job with the science: • Mass of a Toa
Tumblr Post where I ask for opinions on Matoran Brains, check out the notes: herora-nuva.tumblr.com/post/6...
Fan Made breakdowns of Bionicle Anatomy:
Pohatu's Arrival by Vrhano: • BIONICLE Animation -- ...
To Build a Toa (or Matoran) by Scorpion_Strike: board.ttvchannel.com/t/to-bui...
Tren Krom by Gahrak: www.deviantart.com/gahrak/art...
Figurin' out dat Bionicles body by JarODragon: www.deviantart.com/jarodragon...
BIONICLE is owned by the Lego Group.
The content in this video falls under Fair Use
All official BIONICLE clips sourced from BioMediaProject.com - บันเทิง
The fact that it's really hard to tell if they're robots or not and they never explain it is part of why the aesthetic of Bionicle was so mysterious and cool.
Honestly yeah, it adds to the way all these different aesthetics of sci-fi and fantasy blend together to make the story so unique!
If you look a bit closer, the “teeth/tongue” are the movie equivalent of the mouth on the sets that the masks peg into. So there’s a good chance that’s their actual mouth. Since Kanohi connect to their faces magnetically, my guess is that some masks have multiple moving parts, two of which are similar to lips that move in correlation to their actual mouth (Takua’s Pakari and Jaller’s Hau) and other masks have the electronic…vent… thingies… (Turaga Vakama’s Huna and Toa Nokama’s Rau)
Also spectacular video!
Ah yeah true! They correspond nicely to the mouth pegs on the sets!
Outofgloom also went with the four mouth wedges route in his development of his Matoran language (which should really be considered canon at this point IMHO)
THE T POSING TOA ON THE THUMBNAIL
Lmao yeah! When I found the concept art I knew I just had to do the t pose meme 😂
The T in T-pose stands for Tahu
It's so funny because all the toa (except for takanuva bc he's in the mask) t pose in the awakening mata nui scene in the mask of light
@@2Dtube1 Takanuva does T-pose when Takua initially equips the mask lol
T-pose of dominance!
here's my theory. their brains are, get this, organic crystals grown by an organic brain stem, similar to how animals on earth grow bones and teeth. these crystals function as effective neurons since they can transmit electrical information. they would also store all of their thoughts and memories, but their emotions would still be controlled by structures analogous to our amygdala. finally, to interface with their mechanical bodies, they have a CPU which converts the electrical signals from the crystalline brain to commands for their body, which explains how the body could be controlled but not the brain.
i think this answers every question elegantly, and i always though of the pins/axels/ball joints as the biological parts, with the eye stems being their brains.
That's a very intriguing idea! Kinda blends the others together
This could also explain why the mask of mind control works on biological beings, but not robots. I'm not fully aware of the science behind it, but I know there are some crystal structures that respond to radio signals, so if the organic brain was at least partly crystalline but the synthetic brain was otherwise airgapped, that would give a way in for external control.
I do agree and think their brains are a blend of organic and mechanical. Their personality, emotions, and social bonds would solely be in the organic part, but their programming and "instincts" are solely in the mechanical part. Memories and learning might be stored in/done by either or both.
Their brains being crystalline is an interesting idea as well, and lines up eerily well with Reviving Bionicle's lore, hahaha. Maybe it's a blend of all three - with mechanical and biological parts combined together with a crystalline "inner skull" to protect the actual brain, perhaps with smaller crystals integrated into the mechanical parts - kinda like how quartz crystals are used in mechanical watches.
Yeah that’s some really good points, I also really like the idea of mixed brains with each part serving different functions. And lmao yeah I didn’t even realize the crystal fits with Reviving Bionicle, that’s how you know it’s canon 😂
And oo yeah I like the idea of the crystals having parallels to clockwork, didn’t even think of that. Maybe they modeled the Vahki after the mechanical and clockwork mechanisms in their own brain, but couldn’t mimic the organics
@@heroranuva8295 I for one think that their brains could be all three, with the mechanical parts being partially electronic and partially crystal, as there is such a thing as crystalline technology or technology and machinery made from crystals.
@@ChroniclerV ooo yeah that’s interesting! Yeah they might have bits of each
@@heroranuva8295 Basically, what you'd have is a brain that is half organic, a quarter electronic tech and a quarter crystalline tech.
This brains are crystal.
My therapist: "T-posing Tahu isn't real, he cannot hurt you."
T-posing Tahu:
Great video as always! :)
LMAO thanks!
Bionicle is one of the most interesting depictions of biomechanical organisms
It really is! There honestly aren't many like it, with creatures who come into being as perfect blends of nature and machine
I thought Vrhano's Pohatu animation was an official promo video as a kid. I assumed most characters had fully biological lungs, hearts, and muscles. Very fascinating video! It's awesome to see people still making lore videos for Bionicle.
Thanks! Wow that's cool, yeah Vrahno's video was so well done it feels official
Transformers are actually also Organic: they are a solitary cell, a single point of Energy known as a Spark, that inhabits the artificial robot body.
Transformers and Bionicles happen to be old childhood favorites of mine.
Huh, that's interesting I didn't know that!
@@heroranuva8295 It was referred to in the Beast Wars and Beast Machines Series: Cybertron had an Organic Core and Animal Life that would eventually evolve into the Cybertronians we know now. New Sparks are born via Mitosis, Cell Division.
There's a parallel retcon/Origin in which the Quintessons (Fifth Essence beings) created the Transformers as entirely autonomous robots to mine Energon, Similar to the Beings that created the Matoran and Toa as Maintenance drones for Mata Nui's Body.
It's a Gen 1 Thing that is rarely touched upon anymore, and there's more to peruse on the Transformers Wiki.
Happy to share this Trivia! 😃👍
A spark isn't organic though. It's an analogy for a soul
@@armorhide406 Depends on the continuity, it changes all the time. Personally I LOVE the interpretation that Transformers are fully biomechanical, just with a heavy visual emphasis on the mechanical, and internal organs that resemble more mechanical components. Like, in my ideal Transformers continuity, you'd cut them in half and their insides would like the insides of the robots from the Alien movies, just like blue or pink instead of white.
@@krakendude2 Bots do get bisected in the IDW comics but it's mostly obscured by blood - er, energon.
I think one interesting example to explore is the Kanohi Ignika, the Mask of Life. Not only does it have the capacity to create, kill, or change living organisms, it has a form of sentience that had nothing to do with the MU or Velika at all.
It drove a Great Being mad by giving the being a passive ability to grant life to everything that being came into contact with (which makes me wonder if the Great Beings even intended to give the mask sentience). The Mask created for itself a body, as well as formulating a body for Mata Nui's consciousness to inhabit. And with its autonomy, it picks and tests those it deemed worthy to wield it.
In all of Bionicle it's definitely feels like the exception to the rule. Which is why I was surprised to learn that the Great Beings were of the same species as the Glatorians. The technology of the Great Beings was so advanced that we humans couldn't even hope to compare. I had assumed that the Great Beings were a Higher Alien Life Form that were worshiped as gods by the Glatorians and Agori.
As for my theory, I think the secret is in the Protodermis. I think that all forms of Protodermis, including Energized Protodermis and Antidermis is a very adaptive, yet volatile substance (kind of like Transformium in Transformers Age of Extinction) that, when mastered, could enable impossible feats of biological engineering. With the capacity to create mechanical exoskeletons, artificial tissue, can connect with fundamental laws of physics and more, but is very prone to unpredictable results when Energized. And I think this allowed the Great Beings to seamlessly integrate the biological with the mechanical.
Ooo, this is such an interesting take! Yeah you're right, the Ignika has a totally different form of consciousness to the rest of them.
As far as the origins of the Great Beings, I'll admit I also used to like the idea of them as super advanced aliens, but I did end up really liking their canon origin story, where they accidentally absorbed all the dreams from Annona the dream eater. Its a cool idea that their intelligence is really from the collective imagination of the whole planet.
And yeah I think that the Protodermis plays a HUGE role in how all these things work. Its the most intrinsically magical part of the world, since the GBs didn't even create Energized Protodermis. I remember watching Transformer Age of Extinction and thinking the same thing! It so adaptable, and even non-energized forms seem to have a deep connection to destiny. I remember on tumblr I came across a theory I really liked that explained the various states protodermis came in as properties of a mixed metallic and organic substance. That would explain how it changes when heated and cooled and how it contained so much latent energy that came out when purified
@@heroranuva8295 Yeah, I know Greg explained away a lot of mysteries about the Bionicle Universe, but Protodermis, in all its forms, is still a bizarre mystery in and of itself. I remember reading how when the Toa Metru first left Metru Nui, Nokama was surprised by the difference between the ocean above and the the Silver Sea she was familiar with.
I have a theory that Energized Protodermis is the "blood" of the Great Spirit Robot, and that when the Great Cataclysm caused Voya Nui and Mahri Nui to break away, the Energized Protodermis "blood" mixed with the surrounding ocean water to create the mutagen in the pit.
@@taqresu5865 Ooh yeah its totally just like his blood. Yeah the idea of the mutagen being like a form of diluted EP is such an interesting idea. Also could've tied into environmental themes, like the idea that they polluted the ocean and had to clean that, but they never got into that as much.
And you know, even with the explanations, I felt Bionicle still had a lot of wonder to it. It was always meant to be a mix of sci-fi and mysticism, and even then the "scientific" explanations were still beyond real knowledge.
@@heroranuva8295 Yeah, I agree with that. I really love Bionicle's world building.
@@taqresu5865 It really is cool
I'm definitely on the side of the brains being a mix, with the electronic elements being some base instinctual processing, and maybe some kind of long term memory backup system. The crystal idea is an interesting one too.
The crystallise brain theory is literally mind blowing xD
Love that one!
Great video man :)
Yeah it's so creative! And thank you!
Oh hello there
@@KeruToL
General Kenobi
Pohatu's arrival (by Vrhano) for me (blended with the Miramax character designs) is a fairy solid representation of what the characters "should" look like; real muscle tissue and organs connected and/or protected by a metallic bone structure and armour plates. In my mind they're more "metallic insects" than robots
It's really good!
The idea that their brains are crystalline really sticks with me well. I'm thinking that their minds are a mixture of organic, mechanical and crystalline.
Nice!
There's a matoran conlang that, while not official, does influence a lot of my headcanon. It actually supports the mixed brain theory because it has two different words that mean "brain", but one (merahk) is in a mechanical sense and the other (meru) is in an organic sense
Oh yeah, there’ve been some really cool fanmade Matoran languages. Is the one you’re using Matoric, made by outofgloom? That one’s my favorite so far
@@heroranuva8295 yeah. I didn’t know there were others though
@@enderking1525 There have been a couple over the years, but outofgloom is definitely the most expansive
I think the term you’re looking for is “techno-organic”. It’s hard to define but it’s basically where organic and mechanic blend together as one down the cellular level.
So their soft tissues such as muscles and their hard metallic shell almost made from the same material and/or have a common function like cellular growth.
I have to agree, also the Bionicles do actually resemble Techno-organic being from Marvel Comic and Transformers. Their exo skeletons also look a little Transmetalic like the Beast Wars transformers.
Never thought I'd see such analysis on Bionicle. It is so good to see.
Thanks!
I do find it funny how Bionicle appear way more mechanical than Hero Factory, despite being canonically organic.
Lol, true!
I made up my own HFAC lore concerning the origin to their species. I went with Human minds uploaded into Android bodies
Do you mean the toys, Than yes I agree with you, their seem to have been a noticeably disconnected between the story creators and toy designers for the entirety of bionicle g1 live span
Given the real world advances in artificial neural networks, and how much they could continue to advance, I think it's plausible that Matoran Universe inhabitants have fully electronic or crystalline brains. While it's true that they don't consider fully robotic entities to be people, and robots like the Vahki and Maxilos are indeed not people, the Matoran's capability to make robotic entities barely begins to approach the capabilities of the Great Beings.
I also think it would be more interesting if the difference between the Matoran's sapience and the non-sapience of their robots or even the Rahi was more a difference of degree rather than of kind. The sociological stories that could be told about the Matoran's possible prejudices about both fully mechanical and fully organic life fascinate me. If they consider themselves truly alive and robots to be not truly alive, but the difference seems largely academic from the perspective of Spherus Magnans, what offense could be taken? What conflicts would arise?
It's common enough in humans to divide things into categories that don't, actually, make much sense if you think about it, like some people saying humans "aren't animals" because our sapience is unique even though, from a neutral angle, we very much are animals. To me it would emphasize the Matoran's similarity to humanity if they separated themselves semi-arbitrarily from purely mechanical robots in that way.
Oooo, ok I never really thought about it like that, that's a really interesting perspective. So if I understand you correctly, you're approaching it from the angle of, the Matoran believe they aren't robots the same way some people believe they aren't animals, that its mainly a cultural distinction rather than a physical/biological one. And then from there ideas of clashing cultures would be all the more prevalent, because there is no meaningful difference to outsiders, but a huge difference to them.
One thing to consider, what about the other sentient species in the MU? (Vortixx, Steltians, Brutes, etc.) I know Greg said "Love isn't canon," but everyone calls Sidorak a simp for Roodaka, showing that there is at least some form of hormones present in the Steltian brain, so at least they have some organics in their head. Are the different sentient species a different mix of mechanical and organic?
Another point is reproduction, which I know you mentioned. Eggs are alien to biomechanics, and yet in canon there's Fenrakk spawn, and I'm sure many other references to younger versions of Rahi. What is the "normal method"? Is it carrying children within the body for a certain period of time? Is it building children out of extra parts? If that's the case, how do Rahi know how to build, especially the ones without hands? Or back to the uh... let's call it "pregnancy theory," is the womb an organ, or more of a mechanized pocket that contains parts that are then assembled together?
These are some interesting ideas! Honestly, for the most part I consider the other species in the MU more or less similar to the Matoran in terms of structure and brain, though it easily could be different. Though with Sidorak, in canon at least, he though he was playing her for power, because he wanted a position of power on Xia. And too be fair, if there are hormones, then some Matoran have them too, because Matau has had "urges".
And I've often wondered about reproduction, especially with Rahi. Its possible all Rahi are made by the Brotherhood and distributed out into the wild. We do see that Rahi can change and grow as they age like with Pewku, and we've also seen that Matoran can change shape and size under various circumstances. Though the idea of Rahi building new ones inside themselves, while probably not canon, is VERY fascinating. Could possibly tie into ideas of how they eat. Perhaps some of the metal and organics that predatory Rahi eat go into making younger ones.
One thing I really loved about the first Bionicle movie was that you could actually see flesh/muscle on the Matorans, especially on the none-toa Matorans like Takua or Jaller. Just find that detail is pretty interesting as I do love idea of natural biomechanical humanoids rather than just "a robot" that actually show a bit of the anatomy in a slightly body horror style.
I always thought the translucent part of their heads was the organic part, and the glowing eyes were a sort of bio-luminescence.
Oooo yeah that's cool!
When all first generation bionicles were handed to me, I was so fascinated by their designs. All weird yet nice geometrical pieces, articulation, colours, masks, unique features - it's all so good! But I never thought about the "bio" part of them, and how MUCH lore behind it. Such a cool video
They were so fascinating and truly unique!
@@heroranuva8295 yeah!
Subscribed within 4 seconds of starting the video lol cant wait to binge this channel
Nice 😁 if you like analysis and Bionicle, this is the place!
The way I picture their brains was like a regular squishy brain, but witth a sort of crystalline motherboard between the two halves, and wires in the wrinkles and folds like weird Nero- cable management
Oooo, that's a very interesting way to look at it, very integrated between bio and mechanical
Its my opinion, given the regenerative abilities and abilities of 3 or 6 individuals to fuse, that nano technology also plays a role in their function. The glow as they morph also makes me think this.
Ooo that's a very interesting way to look at it!
BIONICLE is really interesting to examine in a science fiction lense. Anything mystical appears to operate off of Clark rec that most of the Characters just don’t fully understand.
Cool video ^^
I´m so glad people still are hype for this franchise :3
Thanks!
While I never thought the Miramax designs were bad, personally I always hated the creative freedom in the designs, growing up seeing the flash animations, playing the various games, playing with the toys, I always wanted to see the toys be brought to life in the movies, which was perfectly possible given the beautiful 3D promotionals that got us used to this. So it's something I always grew to resent about the movies.
...
Also Glatorians can grow hair and are mammals.
Yeah I guess I can understand that, the 3D for the commercials could’ve been a cool style to have.
I think it needed to be a blend of the two, giving the original sets muscles, and maybe fixing them where they are so gappy it’s awkward - maybe not this one though.
Glad I stumbled upon your channel! Only a couple minutes into the video and you’ve earned a sub
Welcome aboard! Thanks!
18:11 I've been mad at that death since I first saw this movie like 17 years ago
Lhikan's death always makes me tear up
You just answered questions I've had for 20 years.
Happy to serve :D
So I remembered reading this chat in the Great Archives website from Greg Farshtey that Matoran reproduce by using this machine (I assume it’s some 3D printer and artificial womb machine). The Turagas in the Matoran Universe use this machine when more Matorans are needed for labor. I felt this “reproduction” part of this video is left out tbh.
Don't worry I'll get to covering their lifecycle eventually.
@Bionick Toa Oooo that'd be really cool! For a while I almost saw the machines that made them as like the Hero Factory construction tower, but honestly I like that better.
Also funny you bring it up, because I was just recently think about how Dune actually has a surprising amount of thematic parallels to Bionicle, especially how it mixes themes of technology, biology, nature and mysticism.
I did not know I needed this answer, till the question was asked.
Great video! I hope you're having a great day!
Thanks! You too!
I only really thought about the bio mechanical aspect when I saw a fan animation of pohatu assembling from his pod. And man it’s so understated throughout lol. Those movies sure did something though
I knew this video would be good and my algorithm needs it right now
Now when I think about it, it is entirely possible what one day humanity will be able to create artificial life capable of being sentient, and then after our extinction those so called ”robots” could freely discover their sentience, build their own civilisations and cultures.. And they won’t ever knew what they were meant to be ”robots” and not just living beings..
Yeah, that's such an interesting thing to think about! The idea of our robotic "descendants". It could be cool to think about them rediscovering us, and how it would shape their thoughts on their origins. How alien would we be to them?
Maybe that’s what we are
That defeats the whole 'time before time' aspect though.
i just had a shocking theory idea
what if hero factory takes place centuries after the bionicle story,because toa have elemental powers similarly to the heros and they also look very very similar (yes i know its lego,its just a theory)
Greg said no blood but a form of lubrication fluid. He also said that they definitely absorb energy from food through the hands as the norm. And that they find Skakdi repulsive for eating with their mouths like Rahi do.
now I kind of want to see A full techno organic guide of Bionicle of all the different race rahi and the creatures of spirit magma across Bionicle that are techno organic and maybe the makuta as well
Oh that’d be great. I think something really cool would be basically a fictional nature channel type show with the Rahaga exploring various Rahi and maybe other species as well.
I really like the crystal brain theory
Yeah it’s really cool!
I've been listening to the books for the first time and haven't gotten very far yet but have been writing down any organic parts that the matorans are implied to have. So far I have teeth, ears, brain, and blood. However some words might just be for the phrases like "their blood ran cold" rather than them actually having blood?
oh also I LOVE the crystal brain theory! i love the idea of probably the most important part of their bio-mechanical lives being something entirely different. plus it has the cool reference to stuff that is used for information storage in canon! they are special dudes with special brains
@@thrice42 yeah it’s a really cool idea! And yeah, there’s tons of references to body parts which are really interesting! Some of them are interesting because I wonder if their mechanical or organic. Like for example they might have metal teeth or boney teeth! Who knows!
It’s likely the teeth reference may have fallen out of cannon because it was so early on in the series. Yet many Rahi do so what do I know?
This is part of what never let me forget about how cool & awesome the “first” Bionicle generation!
Because they where confirmed as cyborg in the “Lego Magazine” I never forgotten how awesome the world that was an over-the-top-awesome world of elemental-power & augmented extra capabilities like the mask!!! (long before nicks-avatar… but “I” considered Bionicle as better & vaster😅)
I loved as the character had reactions & responses in the encounter of learning how the bohrak worked & the “Toa Mairi” encounter with the full organic squid used in the squid launchers.
This was mostly described better in the “Book series”, and I loved every encounter and reaction!
Bionicle is a one of a kind story & universe where both nature & machine are so perfectly infused with each other, not even Transformers, Terminators, and everything else in cyborg fantasy/sci-fi can compete!!! I can’t even find it in even any other franchises/series!!!
Bionicle remains one of a kind on this topic of “perfect all natural cyborgs” (or close to natural but fused with nature) that they can even use elemental powers, magic/mystic powers, and nature-infused-technology/power… that I can’t even find anything that competes with Bionicle today or this post!!!😮🤯🤩😍😎 (and that’s a really long time!!!😅)
This is what Bionicle is like to me, and what makes it fit as Bionicle worthy!!! (Cyborg born/bread by “Nature” & the 3 powers the exist in its world. Elemental, Mystical/magic like, and nature-infused-tech/powers!!!😎)
When I was a kid I always saw
their brains as crystalline. I think it was because I played a lot of starcraft, and in that series Protoss robotics use a crystal matrix for computing power.
7:00 Nickonplanetripple actually portrayed that in his comic "The Toa" at one point. It's the only time I've seen it in visual format.
Oh yeah remember that, I loved that comic! One of the best fan retellings I’ve seen
hell no, thats major bs
Really interesing video!
Thank you!
Awesome video and I see there's been a lot of input into it :D
I personally am leaning towards the mixed brains idea. But what is interesting is the argument of Bohroks.
Since they are purely mechanical beings, they must have no organic muscle tissue and only mechanic parts, probably hydraulics. It is heavily implied that the symbiotic relationship between Bohroks and their Kranas is due to the nature of both creatures - one is pure mechanical, and other is biological.
Biological entities in the Bionicle universe seem to radiate some sort of energy, a lifeforce that allows them to move and think. Bohroks have no biological tissue in themselves, and having a Krana bound with them gives them intelligence, awareness, and most importantly, lifeforce, which they harness to fuel the mechanisms of their bodies.
Bohroks and Krana are the key to the idea of mixed brains. My theory is that to control a biomechanical body you need centers of control for both aspects, biological and mechanical. While the Bohrok+Krana symbiosis case is showing us a layout where two separate entities can exist as one, Matoran and Rahi are the example of how a perfect balance can be achieved between tech and bio.
As well, I have a theory about those kind of things many Matoran and Toa have on the back of their heads - it is either a dock that stores memories of the being so it could be downloaded by the Red Star in case of reincarnation, together with their consciousness; Or it is a transformator center that transfers neuron signals into mechanical wires, letting the biological brain control the mechanical body (I like this idea very much).
The most organic thing is the sick flows in yo yo piraka rap
lovely vid
Thank you!
bionicle is so back guys
Interesting video but I do have a suggestion for your content: look into using some royalty free music for the background, and try looking for how to edit your microphone input a bit so you can reduce noise and down the midtones a bit
I think the brains being some sort of crystal protodermis makes the most sense. Since we already know protodermis has the ability to change its own properties given the right circumstances, I think it would be capable of something similar to neuroplasticity
You can see different sides of the brain debate in some Bionicle fan fiction. For example, in Date Night by Bioniclechicken, a loose transparent eye piece is referred to as a brain, indicating a crystal brain. It is bloody however, so it may be organic in some way. In Besieged by BobTheDoctor27, the head of a Matoran is described as being the part with the least organic matter, indicating a mechanical brain.
My answer to the brain question? Yes. All of the above.
Very interesting video.
Thanks!
Have you seen Faber's videos on his original concepts for G2? One of the things he put forward was the idea that Mr. Makuro (founder of Hero Factory) was an MU inhabitant who traveled through some portal to another world, eventually attempting to create his own Toa. He then goes on to briefly mention Makuro's interest and emphasis on quaza, and ties it to the heartlights in Bionicle. I find this quite interesting.
In general, Hero Factory has a similar distinction as Bionicle, where despite everything appearing mechanical, everyone implicitly recognizes the difference between living beings and soulless robots. There's even some beings explicitly confirmed as bio-mechanical, such as the creatures on Quatros and Toxic Reapa.
HF places special emphasis on the "hero cores", which are contain a mysterious substance called quaza. These cores are consistently treated as the thing that gives each Hero their personality, and appears to set them apart from soulless robots. It's said that replacing the core of a Hero would fundamentally change them. During the Brain Attack episode, an army of core-less "blank heroes" are produced, which are treated as mere robots. Essentially, quaza is treated as a special substance which gives life and soul.
In Savage Planet, Witch Doctor attaches spikes of raw quaza to wildlife to control them for his own evil purposes, using a magic staff he discovered at some point. So apparently quaza can be used to override the will of other beings?
But wait, there's more. In Breakout, when Black Phantom describes his plan to create a villain factory, Zib says it won't work because the "quaza will recognize your villainy". (What does that mean?) Black Phantom then reveals that he has a solution: anti-quaza... which he then uses to temporarily shut down Zib and all the mission managers. (Does this mean other inhabitants of the HF world use at least some level quaza?)
At least in Faber's headcanon, it seems that the quaza that gives a soul to HF Heroes is the same thing giving a soul to Matoran. Perhaps that's what their brains are made of, or perhaps the quaza is their equivalent to blood, flowing through their brains (whatever they're made of). It's worth remembering that the original hero core pieces were transparent... just like the Toa brains.
Very interesting! I need to see more of what was going on in Hero Factory, from what I can see, it was very underrated!
@@heroranuva8295 I think the behind-the-scenes for HF is very similar to Bionicle G2: there was massive ambition from the people creating the world, but it ended up being severely stripped down by corporate forces.
There's an article by Faber on his old blog called "Flashback to a battered and discontinued Factory". He ended up deleting the original text of the post (for reasons he described in a comment on the post). Of course, some people had already archived it, and it included the following:
"""
Having worked on both Bionicle and HF from the very beginning I can tell you that the work that went into creating the HF universe was much more deep than the early foundation of Bionicle. We wanted to use all we had learned from Bionicle but make something that was really different from Bionicle yet as epic and big and therefore we created what we called a "realtime IP" meaning that this was not a legend, it was actually happening now somewhere in another galaxy. We wanted to mirror present day but in a tech build-up. In some way inspired by the humor of The Incredibles by Pixar.
The backstory of HF is extremely deep and epic and hold secrets that were never used. They are still in the huge concept bible that I keep. I hope to get to show them and do a extensive blogpost about HF and it's creation on this blog when the time is right. A last note is that Hero Factory was only meant as a location springboard into this vast story universe and the story was meant to get much more personal when the real truth about the factory was discovered. The idea of a factory that builds cocky heros made to specifications was actually a provocation to the whole legendary hero story we had told in Bionicle. The real hero would be found somewhere else...:) to be continued...
"""
Now go watch the very first teaser video for HF. (Video id rDKiZA5Mg-c) The tone is noticeably different from later advertising material which plays the concept of "factory builds robotic heroes" entirely straight. Instead, there's a subtle sense of irony that lines up very well with Faber's vision.
(Side note: I've noticed that Faber's "realtime IP" concept can be seen in a lot of the early marketing, e.g. "Hero Factory FM" and the ads with IRL kids being attacked by HF villains.)
If you're looking for HF lore, the best place to start (after the TV series) is probably HEROsector01. It's nowhere near as comprehensive as Biosector01, but it's probably still the best reference point.
I also always saw the light pipe as some sort of crystal, but less a rock and more like hollywood glass circuit boards. I would like to assume that they have a mixture of organic and synthetic brain, with organic parts to enable faster learning, but computational hardware for long term storage and something like our neural networks to enable a degree of learning in their mechanical parts - essentially muscle memory for servos and linear actuators. To enable the red star to perform it's task, the organic brain would be regularly mapped out, perhaps during sleep, and it's structure saved and backed up so that as little information loss would occur. The scan and backup would also happen when the synthetic system detects the organic system is near death or otherwise in peril, but this would be as noninvasive as possible so as to not disturb mental functions that might otherwise be life saving (you don't want to be lagged up by a brain scan when you are about to fall off a cliff, for example). Either way, the final backup would be imperfect and would require some repair to salvage data not in the previous, stale backup, hence the red star being designed for repair. Of course, as good as it was for repairing minds, apparently they could not repair the red star itself, which would have put the fear of death into everyone once they realised the resurrection machine broke.
I bet if they have blood it’s probably liquid protodermis like what the great spirit robot had for its blood, that might seem kind of weird to be surrounded by a substance that’s in their bodies but it was probably normal to them, like how we have water in our bodies and do t think much of it, plus almost everything in the Matoran universe is made of some form of protodermis
Something I've always found interesting ever since I found out about it: while the matoran were not sapient until Velika's intervention, the makuta WERE. Of course they're going to lack empathy, when the makuta were made, the matoran were just near-mindless drones! The makuta were ancient when matoran culture was new!
Yeah that's such an interesting angle on it. That Makuta never respected the Matoran because they never got over their initial evaluation that they were mindless workers. I think Teridax even expressed as much at one point
My theory: Matoran used to have fully electronic brains with basic AI, but Velika gave them organic brains and the electronics ended up being a modification. I think it's something that would satisfy both "Matoran have organic brains" team and "Matoran have electronics in their head". It could also explain the term "cross-wired": If some of the enhancements malfunction or break (possibly even electrocute organic brain in the process), a Matoran would act crazy and be considered as cross-wired
Wait I thought the Toa Mata had been in the Cannisters for 100,000 years, as at the time at the 2001 story Vakama and Co had been on Mata Nui for 1000 since the ending of the Metru arc
True! So yes the Toa Mata were in the canisters for 100,000 years, and hidden in the Codrex in Karda Nui for most of the history of the Matoran Universe. During the Great Cataclysm their canisters were launched, but there was a malfunction and they remained floating in the ocean for 1000 years before washing ashore. Its implied that while they were in the Codrex, they were better preserved, but while they were free floating in the ocean for 1000 years, the canisters weren't built to support them that long outside the Codrex. In story, its always mentioned that it was being in the ocean for 1000 years that caused the physical breakdown, so I assume the Codrex had systems to keep them together. Good point tho
@@heroranuva8295 I wonder what'll happen if the Toa Metru encountered the Toa Mata much sooner during their first arrival on the island after the great cataclysm
Helpful Tip: Sound is overtuned, which creates a static sound and breaks your upper vocal notes
Thanks, I'll see what I can do. There's a lot of production quality stuff I'm planning to improve as I go on
A very understandable reason for the great beings to make the inhabitants of the matoran universe a blend of organic and mechanical is that mechanical systems will always inevitably break and fail due to fatigue, but organic tissue can repair itself and cannot be easily made unrepairable.
Think of mechanical issues like metal fatigue, hairline fractures, joystick drift, servo deterioration (which can happen either because the bearings of a servo wear down or because the servo bearing gets clogged with dirt and dust).
These aren't issues that organic tissues have, because organic tissues are malleable and usually grow back stronger when worn out. It has adaptive durability.
*I wish Michael Bay made a Bionicle movie, the designs would look so baller in my opinion*
There have been many fans who drew them in that style, if you look up Bayonicle, you should find tons!
@@heroranuva8295 H. R. GIGER WOULD BE PERFECT FOR MAKING BIONICLE DESIGNS HOLY SHIT
I just recently learned more about the lore of Bionicle. As a kid I just had the movies to go off of. Weirdly enough, even though I was a dumb kid that didn’t know that kind of thing, I did recognize they weren’t just robots. There was something I must have noticed as a kid that they had some level of “human” parts.
I definitely didn’t know that The Great Spirit, Mata Nui was actually a robot. I thought he was a god, like THE God but of this world. It’s crazy knowing that the Matoran were actually the maintenance crew for Mata Nui. They’re not “The Heart of Mata Nui” in a metaphorical sense like the saying “Children of God” they’re literally the reason he could move and operate.
What blew my mind more was learning the Makuta was a whole group and not a single character. I thought he was the Bionicle Satan or Unicron. And that the one in the movie had a different name, Teridax.
There’s so much more to this world than I ever imagined. I personally believe with what I know now that the brain is likely techno-organic. The crystal theory from the light piping is very interesting tho and I would argue that it could be a key component of the brain.
There could also be some level of complexity we see in Transformers where there’s a Spark and a Brain Module. Where the Spark for the Bionicle is that blinking light on their chest. Sparks in relation to the brain in TF are very confusing as the Spark is the heart, soul, and mind of a TF. There could be a similar thing going on with the Bionicle. But idk.
Edit: I think this deep lore blew my mind because of how spiritual it was in the movies. It was just a truth of the world that they were organic machines the same way we accept we exist.
The Bionicle lived like tribal peoples that worshiped and focused on the spiritual. No different than we once did, and continue to do to this day but with more advancements. Only to learn none of it was a metaphysical thing but that their whole universe and species was built. That Mata Nui was a giant robot and not an actual deity that ruled over the whole universe.
Maybe you'll make a video on this thought...
But have you ever considered it weird that the planet-sized Mata Nui would have considered a tiny being like Makuta Teridax a brother?
Also, the story of Mata Nui is basically the following horror story: what if one of your blood cells rebelled against you and replaced your soul with its own tiny soul before banishing you from your own body?
If I recall correctly Teridax was being groomed without his knowledge to become the next great spirit robot which was originally supposed to be built on Mata nui’s return to Spherus Magna. The two of them would then work together to repair the planet. Ironically Teradax would have gotten what he wanted if he had just been more patient.
I believe that they must have had an organic component to their brain. If not there would be no reason for the Agorians to make the matoran part organic and not fully mechanical, I think. It makes sense that what necessitated a combination of both was a balance of production cost/resources and the advanced capabilities an organic brain would provide. Perhaps even the muscle components could be explained as necessary link between the organic brain and the mechanical components. Cool interpretation of the reason they were made biomech by the writers too :)
I always thought "organic protodermis" was a bit of a copout by Greg
The hide of the top part of the Vizorak in the third movie were obvious, all scaley and stuff.
If any one that had seen Guyver the biotech armor there is a seen in the show that will explain some of this theory for the healing process and in the show the Dimension w there's a scientist that made artificial human that was able to connect other machines and also has freewill just like in The Bionicle series
I'm glad I found this, searching the thumbnail text does not work lol
how much bio in a nicle
@@DeJake Lmao, yeah 😆
bionics are just so cool
They ARE!
Well, many of the other coments already explain and develop better than me how that mixed brain, even including ther crystal component its maybe the best theory, at the end, its all about electric pulses, we can even talk about the magic element as different kinds of waves, and all that spiritual/phisics that we all have but still cant explain. I love Bionicle because of all this mystic and tribal side of the story mixed with biomechanic awesomeness.
I should and want to read all the books and comics that i never read because of the lenguage barrier that doesnt exist for me anymore.
Does this mean that Roodaka does in fact have holes that we can pound?
I assume the brains are mostly organic but partially mechanical
That would make sense
Like their bodies, I imagine their brains would be 85% mechanical, 15% organic.
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the Blessed Machine.
Blessed is the Omnissiah and the Bionocles made in his image.
Just expanding on the biology of Bionicle, the Glatorians were organic first but after ages of cybernetics they turned themselves more mechanical creatures. So in the Lore they would be more portrayed as more organic then their Matoran Universe bretheren.
Yeah, the Spherus Magna inhabitants were more naturally occurring organic beings that had mechanical implants. It would've been very cool to see them interact with the MU inhabitants more, because exploring those differences would've been fascinating!
You know, I'm going to take the whole "Matoran all the way down" idea as my new headcanon, at least for the first layer. Except less Matoran and more a far simpler, microscopic equivalent. Like specialized nanites that exist to mimic neurons.
maybe, the members of the mu were originally robots (with few exceptions) but they were mutated into bio-mechanical beings by the mask of life as it sensed the schemes of makuta teridax .
What I want to know is how fusing together the organic components works for combiner models like the Toa Kaita. And how do they detangle themselves from each other correctly?
Huh, ya know that’s a great question that I really don’t know the answer to 🤔 And like, does a Kaita have 6 lungs, or do they have 2 large lungs made from the combined lungs of each Toa?
@@heroranuva8295 Space marines in Warhammer 40k actually have 1.5 to 2 times the amount of internal organs than a normal human has. They have 3 lungs and 2 hearts and stuff. I think it sounds quite plausible that the toa Kaita has several "sets" of organs in their larger, stronger bodies.
But the real question is if Akamai actually uses Tahu's and Phoatu's brains for a club
@@Uberdude6666 that probably explains a lot, especially the fusion.
As for the parts, they organs probably realigned to fit right next to each other, and required some very extreme bio-stable complexity for such extra trusses to exist together without being unstable… to be healthy & safe!
The non organic parts like the “heads/skulls & rearranged limbs/torsos/etc.” probably only acted as a new case(s)/structure to hold a different organic tissues/organs.
(so no worries about a club using to skulls/heads holding brains, those organs are too vital!)
Thinking about it. The guy in the video mentioned the Toa possibly reassembling themselves from their canisters unconsciously as a form of self-repair protocol.
So the fusion process probably implanted a memetic command for the Toa to go into stasis mode, and cause the organic tissue to quickly rot away. Then it reactivates them in self-repair mode, but diverts the normal process to a specialized one to reconstruct them as the Kaita.
Then when the Kaita are broken up, the normal reassembly programming kicks in and reconstructs the Toa back to their normal selves.
@@blackheartzerotheundergrou3225 That sounds kinda wasteful. I think it makes more sense if whatever mechanism generates new organic tissue, can also break down and reasemble already existing, living tissue. So it kind of breaks down their bodies and reassemble them as one big one inside the re-assembled kaita armour
I lean towards a combination of organic and crystalline brains, not mechanical. Quartz and other synthetic crystals are components in lots of complex circuits, especially clocks, and they slot into a mechanical system well, perhaps linking organic sentience with the ability to move in the absence of conscious thought. Perhaps the crystalline part serves as a way of encoding memory in the lattices and providing a “clock signal.
Skakdi aren't incompatible with Kanohi last I checked, but are rather lacking in the mental capacity to use them, with Vezon wearing the Olmak being a notable exception.
Mind also that Skakdi seem to have something of a digestive system, but it's unknown how "thorough" or "complete" that is. They have mouths and teeth for sure and prefer to consume food by mouth. An interesting piece of information is that they're significantly more organic than other MU inhabitants due to their spines, and it's speculated that that is perhaps why the Pit Mutagen affects them so much more harshly than other MU inhabitants. Likewise, "rebuilding" is a thing MU inhabitants can undergo, but Skakdi likely cannot due to a larger presence of organic tissue and/or a further intertwining of their organic and mechanical parts that would make rebuilding a much more difficult or even impossible process.
Citation: BS01's page on Skakdi.
their brain is probably biomechanical aswell. a mix of both
Yeah, I'd say its probably got a bit of both
Actual line of Roodaka to Vakama when she was trying to persuade him in the books: Guess we are not "bio" enough.
LMAO
It would make sense as you want the rigidity and durability of metal but you would also want the fluidity of organic muscle but that would require maintenance.
Yeah!
@@heroranuva8295 the problem is that the matoran were made to maintain Mata nui how they did get the materials to maintain themselves. Because if they have organic muscle tissue wouldn't that deteriorate over time with out maintainence like what happened to the toa mata?
Can you please make a video on Agory biology?
I'll probably do something exploring the Glatorian and Agori biology later on yeah
When you started describing heart lights, the first thing that came to my mind were the color timers from the Ultraman franchise. Coincidence or Inspiration?
Oo that's very interesting! I don't know much about Ultraman, but its cool that there's parallels
@@heroranuva8295 yeah it is. To summarize color timers: they are small blue lights located on an ultras chest. They are not organic, but instead surgically implemented devices that gague an ultra's energy level & act (as the name suggests) as timers for how long ultraman could keep fighting which is around 3 minutes within earths atmosphere. When low on energy the color timer will turn from blue to a blinking red & if they run out of energy the timer will turn dark & the ultra could either passout or die.
“How much bio is in this NICLE”
you’re skating on thin ice there bud.
IIRC Skakti specifically are supposed to be fully / mostly organic aren't they?
The Skakdi were biomechanical, they did have robotic parts, they just had a lot of organic parts on the surface too, like their faces and spines!
24:30 Technically, while Transformers are fully robotic, they aren't *just* robots because they have actual souls- their Sparks. Every spark is a fragment of the Allspark, which itself is a fragment of their god's Spark, Primus.
It would be cool if they had to face of villain at some point that found a way to destroy the barrier between the biological and technological
OOo yeah that'd be interesting. Something kinda similar did happen, Toa Ignika from when the Mask of Life made a body for itself once de-evolved Makuta Icarax, turning him from an energy being back into a biomechanical one, which was lowkey kinda horrifying
Good video
Thank you Senator Palpatine, I sure am glad a good, honest, totally not Sith Lord liked my video
@@heroranuva8295 I love democracy. I love the Republic. Why would I have anything to do with the ancient enemy of the Republic?
Regarding blood, I have a suggestion - we know that the beings within the Great Spirit Robot were modeled after it to some extent, so why not a system like the chutes that span throughout Metru Nui & also connect the other islands? Chutes, or rather arteries full of magnetized (not to be confused with Energized) Protodermis, carrying energy & other resources throughout internal systems, perhaps even diffusing directly into the muscles to power them.
also sorry for late comment i just found this video (& your channel)
Oooo that could be pretty interesting, like they have the protodermis in mini-chures flowing through them. That could be cool! (Also brings to mind very jokey headcanons that inside every Matoran is their own little universe with even tinier Matoran 😂)
I find EVERYTHING in the BIONICLE UNIVERSE fastenating, it had amazing world building and I wish they continued with the oringal story and not whatever 2016's story was. I still wished they at least finished the GLATORAN arc with a sequel movie.
Maybe their brains are Crystalline in composition, with a mix of organic and robotic? Or maybe the Crystals ARE what make the brains have such a dichotomy
Well in truth crystals are organic so it is very possible that their brains have a crystalline structure or component that allows for interconnectivity between the mechanical and the biological. It is much easier for information to be shared if there is an interlaced medium that both formats can access.
The idea of purely organic beings being repulsive to inhabitants of the MU is fascinating. I wonder what they would think of glatorian/agori without their mechanical modifications. What would they think of us?
Yeah, its so interesting to think about! I've seen some fan works/theories about how they would react to birth and children and its equal parts fascinating and hilarious
Next can you please define the difference between Earth and Stone. It's been driving me nuts ever since I became a fan of Bionicle.
So I actually will cover that in not too long, in May I plan on a series of videos analyzing each of the elements and will go over that as part of it.
But I can summarize here and as far as powers, Earth is dirt/soil and Stone is solid rock. But the line does get pretty fuzzy, and there is a lot of overlap. Ultimately the difference isn't actually about the actually substance they control, but the themes, cultures, and environmental aesthetics around them. Earth was about the underground and caves, and had themes of mystery, the past, and deep thought. Stone was about deserts and rocky mountains/cliffs and had themes of dependability, stubbornness, and valuing practical concrete solutions to problems
@@heroranuva8295 that's a pretty brilliant explanation I do say.
@@charlesbaker2206 thanks!